The theme of the proposed Alzheimer Disease Research Center will be the study of familial dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT). Funding or partial funding is requesting for 7 Cores (Administrative; Training and Information Transfer; Research Support and Clinical Data File; General Autopsy and Neuropathology Service; Cell Tissue and Fluids Bank/Cell Culture/Cytogenetics; Monoclonal Antibodies Lab; Feasibility Studies) and three new research projects (Linkage Analysis in Familial DAT; Somatic Cell Investigation of Neurodegenerative Disorders; DNA Damage in DAT). An eighth Core (Non-Human Primates) receives independent funding. A ninth Core (Neuroimaging) is likely to be developed by yr. 03. The long term goals of the thematic research are to identify and characterize major genes associated with forms of DAT consistent with autosomal dominant modes of inheritance and to elucidate the nature of the gene action at the molecular, cellular and clinical levels. The ADRC and its Cores are also designed to facilitate new lines of research on DAT by funded investigators active in highly relevant fields (eg., neurotoxicology; neurobiology of hippocampus; chemistry of structural proteins; cytogenetics; molecular virology; amyloidosis) and to enhance the education of professionals and the public on the nature of DAT and related neurodegenerative disorders.